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On our Stages

On our Stages

The National Theatre has to be the place where the best artists come to make their best work, and we believe these artists should be a reflection of the diversity of this country.

As part of our plan to increase diversity on our stages, we set a number of publicly available targets to indicate our progress.

By March 2022:

  • 50% of living writers for our stages will be female
  • 50% of directors working on our stages will be female
  • As an average, there will be 50:50 gender balance on stage
     
  • 20% of writers for our stages will be Black, Asian or ethnically diverse 
  • 20% of directors working on our stages will be Black, Asian or ethnically diverse 
  • At least 25% of performers will be Black, Asian or ethnically diverse 

In 2019-20, in our theatres:

  • 33% of living writers were female
  • 50% of directors were female
  • 47% of performers were female
     
  • 22% of writers were were Black, Asian or ethnically diverse 
  • 10% of directors were Black, Asian or ethnically diverse 
  • 35% of performers were Black, Asian or ethnically diverse 

 

The New Work department is the core creative engine of the organisation, working to develop a broad spectrum of innovative artists and projects for our stages, and beyond. In 2019-20 over 1,000 writers, directors, actors and creatives were contracted by our New Work department – that cohort identified themselves as 52% female, 34% from Black, Asian and ethnically diverse backgrounds, and 17% disabled. 
 

Impact of the Pandemic

All the on-stage targets would have been met or exceeded in 2020-21 with our planned programme, which was announced in February 2020.  

Following the disruption of Covid-19 and the cancellation of that year’s work, we have extended our current commitments to March 2022 to ensure we have clear milestones as we emerge from the pandemic.